Dance Of The Dogwood ...

                               "Legend Of The Dogwood"
                                                ~

At the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood had reached the size of the mighty oak tree. So strong and firm was the wood that it was chosen as the timber for Jesus' cross. 
                                                 
To be used for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the dogwood. While nailed upon it, Jesus sensed this, and in his compassion said, “Because of your pity for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used for a cross. Henceforth, it shall be slender, bent, and twisted, and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross – two long and two short petals.

"In the center of the outer edge of each petal will be the print of nails. In the center of the flower, stained with blood, will be a crown of thorns so that all who see it will remember." 


Blossoms of a beautiful pink dogwood tree
dance in the May breeze on a sunny spring
afternoon in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

                         


 

Sittin' Among The Buttercups ...

"... I need you more than anyone darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up buttercup don't break my heart..."
             ~ "Build Me Up Buttercup"
                          ~ The Foundations
                                     ~ 1968  

Framed by buttercups, this groundhog emerges from its burrow by the creek to survey a picture perfect May morning at Trexler Memorial Park, 
Allentown, Pennsylvania.  

 

Honey Bunny ...

"No act of kindness, 
no matter how small,
is ever wasted."
                  ~ Aesop
                        ~ born 620 B.C., died 564 B.C.

This sweet and adorable cottontail rabbit
is a real honey bunny as it nibbles on some
green grass as a June twilight approaches
at Trexler Memorial Park, 
Allentown, Pennsylvania. 



 

Hope Springs Eternal ...

"Hope springs eternal ..."
                          ~ Alexander Pope
                                ~ 1688-1744

Hope springs eternal, just as surely as
the daffodils bloom in the early spring.

I always fill with happiness like a child
when I see spring's first blooms.

This is the first daffodil bud I've seen this season, 
captured in mid-March a little more than 
a week before the official beginning of
spring, a time of hope, beauty and fresh possibilities.

Daffodil, Jonquil, Narcissus ... whatever 
name you choose, this bud says spring
is awakening at Trexler Memorial Park,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Hope, like spring, is ever near.     
                                    

Dancing In The Mirror ...

"There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror 
that reflects it."
                    ~ Edith Wharton
                                   ~ 1862-1937 

The light of a waning winter sunset
dances as it is mirrored in the waters
spilling over a crest of the 
Little Lehigh Creek in Lehigh Parkway,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.   

Sweetness In The Grass ...

"Listen easy, you can hear God calling
Walking barefoot by the stream ...
And the time will be our time
And the grass won't pay no mind ...
The moment we're living is now
Now now now now now now now ...
And the time will be our time
And the grass won't pay no mind
No the grass won't pay no mind."

       ~"And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind"
            ~ Words & Music by Neil Diamond
           ~ Recorded by the great Elvis Presley
                                         ~ 1969   

And the grass won't pay no mind
as these adorable Canadian Geese goslings
paint a picture of sweetness in the grass
in the light of a May sunset at
Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.   
 

                        
                        

The Spring Seeker ...

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

                          ~ Mark Twain

                                      (Samuel Clemens)

                                       ~ 1835-1910  

The rays of a waning winter sunset

brush this sweet robin perched atop

the highest branch of a tree at

Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania

as it dreams of the nearby spring

just around the corner.  

                                                                                                                                                                         

Come October ...

"There is no season when such pleasant
and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce
so pleasant an effect on the feelings, 
as now in October."
                    ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
                                      ~ 1804-1864

Shades of a looming October sunset
dance on a picturesque scene at the historic
Hopewell Farm.

The farm is part of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Berks County near Elverson, Pennsylvania, an example of an American 19th century rural "iron plantaation."
The buildings include a blast furnace, the
ironmaster's house and auxiliary structures
including a blacksmith's shop, a company store
and several worker's houses.

Hopewell Furnace was founded in 1771 by 
ironmaster Mark Bird for whom Birdsboro was named. The site's most prosperious time was 
during the 1820-1840 period with a brief boom in production during the American Civil War.
In the mid-19th century changes in ron making, including a shift from charcoal to anthracite
rendered smaller furnaces like Hopewell obsolete.
The site discontinued operations in 1883. 

Today, Hopewell Furnace consists of 14 restored 
structures in the core historic area, 52 features on
the List of Classified Structures, and a total of 848 mostly wooded areas. Hopewell Furnace National
Historic Site is located in the Hopewell Big Woods and surrounded by French Creek State Park on three sides and the State Game Lands
to the south which preserves the lands the furnace
utilized for its natural resources.   

  
 

Cycle Of The Road ...

"Nothing behind me,
everything ahead of me,
As is ever so on the road."
                    ~ Jack Kerouac
                                ~ 1922-1969
                          ~ "On The Road"
                                   ~ 1957

With a Pennsylvania sundown behind him
and a Jersey road ahead, this motorcyclist
crosses the Riverton-Belvidere Toll Supported
Bridge, which spans the Delaware River.

I shot this on an unusually warm February
evening, the spring like air breathing hope into all of life's possibilities.

The bridge, which opened in 1904, links
Belvidere, New Jersey and Riverton,
Pennsylvania.

Belvidere, one of my very favorite places, is a charming Victorian town located on the banks of
the Pequest and Delaware Rivers.  

 
   

  

The Vanishing Winter ...

"Roll forth, my song,
like the rushing river."
                      ~ James Clarence Mangan
                                        ~ 1803-1849

Spring rushes its joyful song on the
Delaware River in Belvidere, New Jersey as
a seagull flies in the distance on a rare and warm February breeze.

Chunks of ice are the only trace of the 
vanishing winter in my abstract view of the
beautiful scene I shot standing on the Jersey side beneath the Riverton-Belvidere Toll Supported Bridge. 

The bridge, which opened in 1904, links
Belvidere, New Jersey and Riverton, Pennsylvania.

Belvidere, one of my very favorite places, is
a charming Victorian town located on the banks
of the Pequest and Delaware Rivers.